This place is so beautiful. Right in the foothills before the mountains. I’m already feeling productive (started another book, hell yeah!), but I’ve got one last book review to get through before I can start reading for pleasure – The Past by Neil Jordan (who’s best known for The Crying Game). I’ll leave my comments on it for my review in Paste, but I think it’s definitely worth a read.

This was meant to be a longer post, but circumstances have not allowed, so I’ll just briefly comment on the most important event of the day:

As you know, I am a huge Bowie fan (I have over a day’s worth of his music on my computer…it’s kind of nuts), and when his last album came out in 2003, I anxiously awaited another. But as the years passed and it seemed like he was done making music, I became content. Reality is a good album to close on, and I’m fond of it and 2002’s Heathen in a way I don’t feel about anything after Let’s Dance – though, for the record, both Never Let Me Down and Black Tie, White Noise are underrated albums. I don’t think I really need a new Bowie album in my life (which is saying something, I assure you).

The worst part is, his new single doesn’t really convince me otherwise.

Now, I’ve only listened to it twice, so maybe I’ll change my mind, but my biggest takeaway from hearing “Where Are We Now?” was that I’ve heard him sing this song before, only better. Perhaps this is the worst song on the album – and it’s by no means bad, just depressingly middling – and I’m in for a big shock, but right now I can’t say the prospect of a new Bowie album is unequivocally a cause for celebration.